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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Dawkins
Request for Comments: 7475 Huawei
BCP: 9 March 2015
Updates: 2026, 2418
Category: Best Current Practice
ISSN: 2070-1721
Increasing the Number of Area Directors in an IETF Area
Abstract
This document removes a limit on the number of Area Directors who
manage an Area in the definition of "IETF Area". This document
updates RFC 2026 (BCP 9) and RFC 2418 (BCP 25).
Status of This Memo
This memo documents an Internet Best Current Practice.
This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF). It has been approved for publication by the Internet
Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on BCPs is
available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7475.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Dawkins Best Current Practice [Page 1]
RFC 7475 More Area Directors in an Area March 2015
Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Normative Text Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. Introduction and Scope
This document updates RFC 2026 ([RFC2026], BCP 9) to remove a limit
on the number of Area Directors who manage an Area in the definition
of "IETF Area". This document also updates RFC 2418 ([RFC2418], BCP
25) to reflect this updated definition.
The change described in this document is intended to allow the IESG
additional flexibility in organizing the IETF's work. It does not
make any changes to the role of an Area and does not argue that
assigning more than two Area Directors to an Area is an optimal
solution in the long run. In particular, this change is not intended
to increase the size of the IESG significantly. If several Areas
will require more than two Area Directors, the IESG should consider
investigating alternative ways of organizing the IETF's work.
2. Discussion
In recent discussions, the IESG has explored splitting and combining
Areas. One proposal resulted in a single Area that would be managed
by three Area Directors.
An Area managed by three Area Directors conflicts with this
definition in Section 14, "DEFINITIONS OF TERMS" of RFC 2026
([RFC2026]):
IETF Area - A management division within the IETF. An Area
consists of Working Groups related to a general topic such as
routing. An Area is managed by one or two Area Directors.
A similar statement appears in Section 1, "Introduction" of RFC 2418
([RFC2418]):
Each IETF area is managed by one or two Area Directors (ADs).
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RFC 7475 More Area Directors in an Area March 2015
While it's true that recent IESGs have had two Area Directors in each
Area except for the General Area, the number of Area Directors in
each Area has varied since the publication of RFC 1396 ([RFC1396]).
(For reference, see <http://www.ietf.org/iesg/past-members.html>.)
This variation was due to a number of factors, including workload and
personal preferences, and happened as a natural part of the IESG
organizing itself to do the work the IESG is chartered to do.
At one point, the IESG placed three Area Directors in a single Area
(Scott Bradner, Deirdre Kostick, and Michael O'Dell, in the
Operational & Management Requirements Area, between IETF 36 and IETF
37 in 1996).
The last time the IESG increased the number of Area Directors in an
Area was when they requested that the Nominating Committee provide a
second Area Director in the Routing Area in 1999. Although the
number of Area Directors in an Area hasn't changed since then, the
IESG continues to be responsible for specifying the positions that
the Nominating Committee fills each year.
It is consistent with the IESG's role in creating and dismantling
entire Areas to allow the IESG flexibility in assigning enough Area
Directors who have been selected by the Nominating Committee to
effectively manage the working groups within an Area.
Note the requirement in RFC 7437 ([RFC7437], BCP 10) that the
Nominating Committee review (approximately) half the positions for
the IESG each year is unchanged. The Nominating Committee may assign
an appropriate term duration for each position to ensure the ideal
application of this rule in the future, and this is also unchanged.
3. Normative Text Change
For this text (OLD) in Section 14, "DEFINITIONS OF TERMS" of RFC 2026
([RFC2026]):
IETF Area - A management division within the IETF. An Area
consists of Working Groups related to a general topic such as
routing. An Area is managed by one or two Area Directors.
Replace with this text (NEW):
IETF Area - A management division within the IETF. An Area
consists of Working Groups related to a general topic such as
routing. An Area is managed by one or more Area Directors.
Dawkins Best Current Practice [Page 3]
RFC 7475 More Area Directors in an Area March 2015
For this text (OLD) in Section 1, "Introduction" of RFC 2418
([RFC2418]):
Each IETF area is managed by one or two Area Directors (ADs).
Replace with this text (NEW):
Each IETF area is managed by one or more Area Directors (ADs).
Informational RFCs such as RFC 3710 ([RFC3710]) and informal
descriptions of IETF organizational structure that also describe IETF
Areas as being managed by one or two Area Directors should be
considered updated by this normative specification.
4. Security Considerations
This document updates an IETF process BCP and has no direct Internet
security implications.
5. References
5.1. Normative References
[RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
3", BCP 9, RFC 2026, October 1996,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2026>.
[RFC2418] Bradner, S., "IETF Working Group Guidelines and
Procedures", BCP 25, RFC 2418, September 1998,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2418>.
[RFC7437] Kucherawy, M., Ed., "IAB, IESG, and IAOC Selection,
Confirmation, and Recall Process: Operation of the
Nominating and Recall Committees", BCP 10, RFC 7437,
January 2015, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7437>.
5.2. Informative References
[RFC1396] Crocker, S., "The Process for Organization of Internet
Standards Working Group (POISED)", RFC 1396, January 1993,
<http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1396>.
[RFC3710] Alvestrand, H., "An IESG charter", RFC 3710, February
2004, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3710>.
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RFC 7475 More Area Directors in an Area March 2015
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Barry Leiba and Jari Arkko for applying the giggle test to
version -00 of this document, and to Adrian Farrel, Alexey Melnikov,
Brian Carpenter, Christer Holmberg, David Crocker, David Harrington,
Donald Eastlake, Kathleen Moriarty, Murray Kucherawy, Susan Hares,
Stephan Farrell, and Stewart Bryant for providing review comments.
Thanks to Fred Baker, Michael St. Johns, and Scott Bradner for
providing a better understanding of the history of how the IESG ended
up with two Area Directors in most Areas and even, at one point,
three Area Directors in one Area.
Author's Address
Spencer Dawkins
Huawei Technologies
EMail: spencerdawkins.ietf@gmail.com
Dawkins Best Current Practice [Page 5]